Victoria gears up for Small Business Festival

The Victorian government is putting the finishing touches on its wide-ranging Small Business Festival, with various events targeted towards enabling the state’s many small business owners running throughout the state in August.

The Victorian government is putting the finishing touches on its wide-ranging Small Business Festival, with various events targeted towards enabling the state’s many small business owners running throughout the state in August.

Hosted by Small Business Victoria in partnership with private sector organisations, local government and industry groups, Victoria’s Small Business Festival features hundreds of free or low cost events across Melbourne and regional Victoria during August to give small businesses access to new technology and productive skills. Events cover a diverse range of topics including marketing, social media, employing and managing staff, financial management and much more – all aimed at providing inspiration, ideas and information to start and grow a business.

The Victorian Government says small business represents approximately 30 per cent of the State’s output of goods and services and employs more than 1.2 million people. 30 per cent of Victorian small businesses are based in regional and rural areas and for this reason the festival will be aligned with partner business festivals staged in Geelong, Ballarat, Warrnambool, Beechworth, Wangaratta, Shepparton and Wodonga.

A focal point of Victoria’s Small Business Festival is the Festival Hub. Based at Federation Square, it will be expanded as an events space and as an information centre about the support services for small business. Other key events on the schedule include:

The Small Business BIG Marketing event at the Melbourne Convention Centre on August 29, which will deliver the latest marketing trends from experts designed to maximise business potential.

Tech Trends (Bendigo, Sale, Ballarat, Scoresby, Warrnambool and Geelong), featuring leading technology experts outline how small business can harness the latest technological developments to create new markets.

The Small Business Big Future Exhibition in Geelong, Ballarat, Traralgon, Shepparton and Scoresby.